The Republican journal., 1887-10-20
A Hidden Crime.

FANNIE B. WARD.
A Hidden Crime.
HOW BRUTAL MATE WAS BKUTALIY MUIR
DERED IN MID-OCEAN.
"WhatS that you say? Murders ever commit
ted at sea that are never found ont? Well,
should say there werc.''
The speaker was a tall, wcll-forncd, bronZcd
mariner. the chief officer of an American ship
now lying at the seawai. He has followed the
sea from infancy, for he was born on 1t. and
the forty-ive years of his wavc-toSsed life have
been full of incident and adventure.
"Ics." he went on to say to the Alta report
er who was his listener, ''therc are many. lnanv
crimes committed at sea which never come to
light. and many is the old shcllhack whose
hand Is stained with blood. Talkn. of this
puts me in mind of something that occurred to
me. a case that furnishes an instance in point
II happened about six years ago that | was
stranded in this port without RAG. | had been
ashore about six days. ample time for an Old
shell to get away with his all, and was deter
mined to ship as soon as possible. There was
at that time in port as pretty little ship as
have ever seen. She was the very craft to
charm sailors heart. Long and low of hull.
with tall, rakinS masts, she had the run of a
clipper and was As clean as a man of war.
81 took a fancy to the Sea Foam at once,
and hearing that the Captain wanted men, |
went aboard and was shipped as boSun for Il
voyage to Cork. found the old man "A splen-
did fellow, bluff and hearty. a real Sea-,og who
liked his glass of grog and whose nose showed
his liking. The second mate was a nice Young
man. but the mate was queer card. He'd
never look you in the face. was always talkin.
to himself. and would fly into terrible parox-
ysms of rage. Even in his sleep he could not
keep quiet. and the stiffness of the night-watch
WonlI often he IiStnrhaI Ly his ShriaEs fnr
mercy and his cries Of Il did not do it; it was
MT me-
81 at last came to the conclusion that the
man was tormented with remorse for some past
crime. AS the days of the voyage wore away
l became more and more convinced that my
belief was correct and that the mate was a
criminal but the real truth was TO be revealed
to me sooner than expected.
at was on Trinity sunday. 1ss1. and we
were in As south and 100 west when we were
overtaken In one Of the heaviest gales it has
been my lot to encounter. The Glass had been
jumping about as if it hal st. Nitus dance.
The old man had foreseen the gale which broke
on us from the Sou-we>t. and we had every
thing snug when the tirst blast struck us and
heeled us over till the water poured down the
companion-way. Luckily we had brand new
topsas and trySas, or tie devil himself could
not have saved us.
I'VE were lying up to the wind pretty stead
lily when eight bells struck at midnight and the
mate got ready to 90 below. Poor fellow! he
never got below by himself. but had to be car
red there. for a sudden lurch to leeward threw
him across the poop deck, and at the same mo-
ment the spanker boom carried away from the
mast and fell across his chest. When we pick
ed him up he was Sen>eess so we carried him
down below and brought him around with
some brandy. But he was dying man, and he
knew it. Tel! the old man to come herc,' he
said and the captain was brought alongside.
'Captain,' he said in a hoarse whisper. while
every now and then the yelling blood choked
his utterancc, Il have a confession to make.
was afraid to make it before. and it has render
ed my life a burden to me. Three years ago,
Captain. l shipped before the mast in the Mari
eta brig of New Orleans, bound with cotton
for Liverpool forgot the Old mans name.
but the mate was named Roberts. and he was "A
brute. Hardly had the ship left harbor before
he commenced to ill-treat the men. but a terri
bile punishment was to overtake him. We had
been out six days, the weather was fine and |
had the first wheel in the afternoon watch. The
stores were to be given out that afternoon, and
at two bells saw man coming aft with some
kids in his hand TO get the stores. In quar-
ter OF an hour he returned carrying kid of
molasses. AS he came out of the BOBBY hatch
the Captains dog. snarling little cur, bit him
on the leg and he fell, spilling the molasses on
the deck. The mate saw the accident and go
Ing deliberately up to the man, kicked him in
the face and the poor wretch rolled over sense
less. The inhuman mate was not punished,
however. He raised the PROSTATE mans head
up and laid 1t on the overturned kid. Then
getting astride the man he raised his foot and
kicked the poor wretch beneath the nose tear
Ing the nostrs clean off SO that they hung over
the back of his head. He then set the dog on
the man, and the cur completed the mates
work by tearing the bloody nostris off all to-
gether.
'rhe mate laughed. Take him forwards
could hear him say to the men who were gath
cred round lingering their knives In threaten
ing manner. They lifted their wounded. sense
less comrade and took him forward as the
mate went below. lie presently returned and
proceeded to take the sun. He stood abaft the
main rigging on the port side. He raised the
seXtant and looked intenty at the glowing sun.
l saw the men consulting together and then
one stepped forward. He was a big brawny
collier. Picking up 4 HEAVIER he stole behind
the mate and brought the iron bar down with
crushing force on his head, dashing his brains
out with the force of the blow. The other
men rushed aft, picked up the body and
dropped it overheard with the seXtant.
few buckets of water washed away all evi-
dence of the crime, and the men resumed
work.
SAT four bells the old man came on deck and
looked around for the mate but not seeing
him went below again. In the meantime |
was relieved. l went forward. 'Did you see
anything!" asked the collier. MOL answered,
f's.N
more beavers in the ship Passing by the
main rigging, l looked over; blood and brains
despatched the chain plates. l drew bucket
of water and washed it off.
81 had scarcely finished when the skipper
came on deck again, very much excited. who's
seen the mate" he asked. No one had The
ship was searched, but no mate was found,
and at last the search was given up, the Cap
tain concluding that his chief officer had fallen
overheard. though how was mystery.
"'Wc arrived in Liverpool all safe. the
second mate acting first and the boatswain
as secon officer. The tragic story was never
told. and have lived in hell ever since'
''The excitement which mad kept the mate
up now failed him, and he fell back on the
table with the death rattle in his throat. And
there, amid the shTieking of the wind and the
grooming of the vessel the poor fellow died,
the little o-lamp casting weird light on his
pale convulsed features.
''There, sir,'' concluded the mate, "was a
crime which was never avenged, for though
we laid the facts before the proper officials on
our arrival in Liverpool, the murderer was
never discovered. Yes, sir, the sea has many
mysteries" Alta California.